The state has dropped criminal charges for two Hillsborough County Firefighters.
You may remember the video from a story our I-team first broke last month.
It shows St. Pete police tasing firefighter Clint Walker and later charging him with battery on a law enforcement officer after police said he was being combative.
The state attorney’s office said the fact and circumstances surrounding what happened do not warrant prosecution against the firefighters.
It happened at the Del Mar bar in St. Petersburg last month while police were questioning Walker regarding the beating of another man.
The suspect in that case still hasn’t been identified.
Police said as they tried to detain Walker, he became combative and they used a taser to subdue him.
“He literally is standing with his hands behind his back and they tasered him to the ground, and then continue to taser him,” Walker’s attorney Jerry Theophilopoulos told us last month.
Police also charged another Hillsborough firefighter Robert Ramirez with obstructing or resisting law enforcement without violence.
St. Petersburg Police Department said the two firefighters have not filed a formal complaint, but police still plan on holding their own internal investigation into what happened that night.
“Our office of professional standards initiated the investigation through our chief. He is our complainant because we have not received an official complaint from either one of the men against the officers,” said police spokesperson Yolanda Fernandez.
Among the evidence investigators will look at, surveillance video from the bar showing an officer kicking Walker while he’s on the ground.
Then video showing the officer grabbing Ramirez by the face and shoving him as he was escorted out.
The firefighter’s attorney said his client was targeted because of his affiliation with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
They are considering litigation against the St. Petersburg Police Department.
